As foreign outrage mounts over evidence of possible executions and other atrocities by Russian forces in Ukraine, Germany's defense minister says Europe must consider stepping up penalties for Moscow by boycotting its gas exports, an economically painful step European leaders previously avoided.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that"we strongly condemn attacks on civilians" following reports of bodies found with signs of torture in areas abandoned by Russian forces. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called reports of rape and other atrocities by Russian soldiers"beyond reprehensible."
In Bucha, northwest of the capital, Associated Press journalists saw 21 bodies. One group of nine, all in civilian clothes, were scattered around a site that residents said Russian troops used as a base. They appeared to have been shot at close range. At least two had their hands tied behind their backs.
The head of Ukraine's delegation in talks with Russia said Moscow's negotiators informally agreed to most of a draft proposal discussed during talks in Istanbul, but no written confirmation has been provided. Russian demands include Ukraine declaring itself neutral and renouncing membership in military alliances.
Governments have been scrambling to find ways to reduce that reliance. Estimates of the impact of a gas boycott on European countries vary but most involve a substantial loss of economic output. "If we can do it, the rest of Europe can do it too!" President Gitana Nauseda said on Twitter, referring to Russia as"the aggressor."U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called images of what happened near Kyiv"a punch to the gut" on CNN's"State of the Union." The United States has previously said that it believes Russia committed war crimes.
The AP also saw two bodies, that of a man and a woman, wrapped in plastic that residents said they had covered and placed in a shaft until a proper funeral could be arranged.Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelenskyy, claimed some of the women had been raped before being killed and the Russians then burned the bodies.
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